Combined pallet and crate structure



May 24, 1949; B. c. COIT, JR 2,471,095

COMBINED PAELET AND CRATE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 5, 1947 s She e'ts-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 802 701V C. C017, JR.

May 24, 1949, B. c; con, JR 2,471,095

COMBINED PALLET AND CRATE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 5, 1947 5' Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. BURTON 6; C017, JR.

BYdi C 72 ,4 r roe/vs Y May 24, 1949. B. c. colT, JR

COMBINED PALLET AND CRATE STRUCTURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 5, 1947 INVENTOR.

Boer-01v C. Corr, JR. BY Z i his May 24, 1949.

B. C. COIT, JR

COMBINED PALLET AND CRATE STRUCTURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 5, 1947 I his 1949. B. c. corr, JR 2,4715095 COMBINED PALLET AND CRATE STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 5, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. 80/2 ro/v CI C017; JQ,

EXQ-

Patented May 2c, 1949 2,471,095

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,471,095 COMBINED PALLET AND CRATE STRUCTURE Burton 0. Cult, Jr., Washington, Pa., assignor to Tri-State Engineering Company, Washington, Pa., a corporation of Maryland Application February 5, 1947, Serial No. 726,687

Claims. (Cl. 248-120) This invention relates to pallets or portable the upper edges of the end walls of crates upon platforms such as those utilized in stacking and which the pallets are placed in stacked relahandling shipping cases and other articles and tion. The stacked pallets are thus prevented which are commonly handled and transported by from shifting upon one another. Sheet-metal the use of trucks having lifting forks, thepresent 5 floor bars 18 extend transversely of the floor bars invention relating more particularly to the prol5 and are welded thereto. They not only facilivision of a crate-like structure in conjunction tate stacking of loaded pallets on one another,

with a pallet deck. particularly when the upper crate structure is One object of my invention i t provide a, cemremoved therefrom, but serve as lateral bracing blned pallet and crate structure of such form that lem nts for h flo r rs n l ss.

the sides and ends of the crate portion can be This invention resides primarily in the upper detachably connected to the pallet in a manner or crate portion of the structure shown in Figs. 1 to permit convenient placing and removal thereof d 2 a the means for detachably connecting on a pallet deck. the crate walls to the deck, so that the pallet can Some of the forms which my invention may be used either with or without the crate.

t k r sh i th accompanying drawings The crate structure comprises side walls formed wherein Figure 1 is a side view of a pallet and of longitudinally-extending r r h avy wires crate structure in assembled relation; Fig. 2 is an 2| t0 Which a W d vert cal wires 22. The end view thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a pallet Crete d W One O Which is Shown n deck to which the crate portion is detachably compr s h0riZ0nte1ly-eXtending rods 3 tha are connected; Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary end and Welded to vertically-extending rods 24. The end side elevational views, respectively, of another walls and the side walls are hingedly connected form of pallet and crate arrangement; Figs. 6 et e at he corners o e te by sp al and '7 are face and edge vi w r ti l on an wires 25, so that when the crate is removed from enlarged scale, showing the form of h the pallet deck, it can be folded or collapsed as ments that are employed to detachably connect s wn in Ha r convenience of s ora e or the crate sides and ends to the pallet deck in Shipping When p y- Figs. 1 and 2; Figs. 8 and 9 are edge and face For detachablyconnecting the crate sides and views, respectively, of another modified form of s t0 the pellet c as wn n Figs. 1 and 2,

connecting device, Fig. 9 showing also a portion I use hooks 26 formed as shown in Figs. 6 and '7,

of the crate and pallet; Figs, 10 and 11 are edge the shank portions of the hooks bein welded to and side views, respectively, of still another form the two lower horizontally-extending wires of of device for connecting the crate sides to the the end walls and s e w p c ively. he pallet deck, as in Figs, 4 and 5, and Fig 12 shows lower ends of the members 26 are bent laterally the manner in which the crate walls can be folded 3 at 27 to Project n h adja ent deck rods when when removed from th pallet d k, the crate sides are assembled with the deck. As

The pallet may suitably be of various forms, indicated in 4, I may Suitably employ a O preferably having a deck of lattic or reticulated 26 at each end of the deck and three hooks along construction formed by longitudinal rods or each Side thereof. a e p s indicated in g- 3, heavy wires In that are welded to transverse rods but the number and i n f the hooks can II, the longitudinal edges of the pallet being reobviously be altered to s crate sizes, etc.

inforced by relatively heavy rods l2 and I3 welded Assuming that the crate W ls are in po i i n t the upper nd l r id respectively of t on the deck, the said walls can be disconnected tra s ire ll, therefrom without the use of tools, simply by U shaped legs M are welded t their upper e first springing the lower portion of each end wall t the longitudinal d ll of th deck, and floor inwardly in the direction indicated by the arrow bars ISarrangedin pairs near the longitudinal a in This W ll permit h le ges 21 of edges of the deck and near the longitudinal the books at those Points being p e from median line thereof, extend beneath and are beneath the a j n e k wire H and then welded to the lower ends of the legs M, the end sprun u a d y s h ly o a plane above said portions of the floor bars near the edges of the Wires. Thereupon, the end walls or first one end pallet being bent up at l6 and bent back at ll,. Wall and then the other end wall can be flexed the bent back ends being welded to the deck. The in the directions indicated by the arrows b in bends at l6 permit stacking of the pallets on, Fig. 3. This will draw in the side walls of the one another, the bent recesses at is resting upon crate sufficiently far to move the hooks from arrangement, the hooks are secured to the side walls and the end walls of the crate at points spaced considerable distance from the legs 3! of the pallet. Such locations of the hooks permit more readily disengagement thereof from the deck wires, because the deck wires can be flexed slightly upwardly and outwardly to effect disengagement thereof from the hooks. For example, a tool such as a screw driver can be inserted between the outwardly-projecting end of .the',hook and the underside of the wire and the deck wire ll (Fig. 4) pried out of the hook. In

cases where the deck wires are not too heavy, the

lowermost crate wires 24 and the adjacent deck wire can be grasped by the hand and the deck wire manually sprung upwardly and outwardly to snap it clear of the hook.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, I show an arrangement wherein a U-shaped tie element 32 is welded to the two lowermost wires 2| of the crate sides. The closed ends of these yokes will project through mesh openings in the deck and retaining members 33 then put into position between the yokes and the lower surface of the deck, to releasably hold the crate sides on the deck. Sometimes it will not be necessary to use the retaining member 33, because a leg such as 32, carried by the crate walls, will hold the crate against sliding oil the deck.

I claim as my invention: I

1. A combined pallet and crate structure comprising a pallet having a deck, vertical crate walls adapted to rest upon the deck, means for detach- .ably connecting the lower edges. of the walls to the deck, the walls being hingedly connected together at the corners of the crate, whereby they may be folded upon one another when removed from the pallet deck, legs for the deck, and floorbars connecting the lower ends of the legs and having vertically offset portions near their ends, that partly embrace the upper edges of the crate walls, to prevent'horizontal shifting of a pallet on a crate upon which it is stacked.

' 2. A combined pallet and crate structure comprising a pallet having a deck, vertical crate walls carried by the deck, the side and end walls of the crate being hingedly connected and foldable relative to one another, means for connecting the walls to the deck and holding them against relative swinging movement, legs for the pallet having floor bars secured thereto at their lower ends, the said bars extending straight for nearly the full length of the pallet, but having upwardly-oifset portions near their ends, in planes parallel to the bars and in position to engage the upper edges of the end walls of a crate when a pallet is stacked on the crate, the floor bars thereby preventing relative shifting of the Pallet and a crate upon which it is placed and serving also a to brace the upper edges of the crate walls against relative swinging movement, and the end walls of the crate resting upon the top of the deck whereby the load imposedupon the upper edges of the end walls is transmitted to the deck and thence to the legs beneath the deck.

3. A combined pallet and crate structure comprising a pallet having a deck, vertical crate walls carried by the deck, the side'and end walls of the crate being hingedly connected together and foldable relative to one another, means for connecting the lower edges of the walls to the deck and holding them against relative swinging movement, legs respectively secured at their upper ends to the pallet deck, at points adjacent to the corners of the pallet and at points intermediate the corners, floor bars each secured to the lower ends of an alined row of legs, the bars extending approximately the full length of the pallet deck but having upwardly offset portions near their ends, in position to engage the upper edges of the end walls of a crate when a pallet is stacked on the crate, the floor bars thereby preventing relative shifting of the pallet and a crate upon which it is placed.

4. A combined pallet and crate structure comprising a pallet having a'deck, vertical crate walls carried by the deck, legs respectively secured'at their upper ends to the palletdeck, at points adjacent to the corners of the pallet and at points intermediate the corners, fioor bars each secured to the lower ends of an alined row of legs, the bars extending approximately the full length of the pallet deck but having upwardly offset portions near their ends, in position to engage the upper edges of the end walls of a crate when a pallet is stacked on the crate, the floor bars therebypreventing relative shifting of the pallet and a crate upon which it is placed.

5. A combined pallet and crate structure comprising a pallet having a deck, vertical crate walls carried by the deck, legs respectively secured at their upper ends to the pallet deck, at points adjacent to the corners of the pallet and at points intermediate the corners, floor bars each secured to the lower ends of an alined row of legs, the bars extending approximately the full length of the pallet deck but having upwardly offset portions near their ends, in position to engage the upper edges of the end walls of a crate when a pallet is stacked on the crate, the floor bars thereby preventing relative shifting of the pallet and a crate upon which it is placed, there being a floor bar adjacent to, but set inwardly from each longitudinal edge of the pallet structure and another fioor bar adjacent to the longitudinal center line of the pallet.

BURTON C. COIT, JR.-

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Acteson May 20, 1947 

